Jennifer Lopez has made a name for herself on the small screen thanks her to leading role as a cop on NBC's crime drama Shades of Blue. Now, she's signed on to tackle a very different kind of role for HBO, and she will soon star in an upcoming HBO TV movie about the life of (arguably, but barely) the most powerful female drug lord of all time, Griselda Blanco.
The film is currently in the early stages of development and does not yet have an official name. It will follow the rise and fall of the Colombian drug kingpin Griselda Blanco, who became known as the "Cocaine Godmother" as she changed the rules of the drug trade in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. Blanco is rumored to have been a black widow of sorts - another nickname she attained - who killed a couple of her husbands. And she more than earned her name as the Cocaine Godmother by reportedly trafficking up to 300 kilos - yes, 300 - of cocaine monthly while at her most powerful. It's no question why she's so infamous. Blanco died in 2012 in her native Colombia after she was deported from the U.S.
Basically, Griselda Blanco sounds like somebody whose live would make for an awesome HBO movie, and Jennifer Lopez could be the perfect person to bring her to TV. Lopez has proved her acting chops over the years, and she's certainly going to be invested in the project. According to THR, she has signed on as executive producer as well as star, citing her longtime fascination with Blanco's life as her motivation for the HBO film. There's no confirmation just yet of who will be joining Lopez in the project or when we can expect production to begin.
HBO is best known for its original series such as The Sopranos, True Detective, and of course Game of Thrones over the years, but the network has been breaking into quality original movies more and more in recent years. Bryan Cranston was fantastic as Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s period movie All The Way earlier this year, and Kerry Washington starred as Anita Hill in the political thriller film Confirmation just before that. Steven Soderbergh has a series/movie in the works at HBO as well, which was imagined as a choose-your-own-adventure style narrative starring Sharon Stone.
Only time will tell how Jennifer Lopez's Griselda Blanco TV movie will compare to HBO's other film projects. Unfortunately, we'll probably have a while to wait to see for ourselves. Jennifer Lopez will be back on the small screen with Season 2 of Shades of Blue, and though premiere date has yet been announced for the second season, odds are that it will debut sometime in midseason. Check out our fall TV premiere schedule to see what you can watch while you wait for more Jennifer Lopez.
